Hugh Jorgensen

Hugh Jorgensen is currently completing post-graduate studies in Europe. Previously he worked as a Research Associate with the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute, where his work focused on economic, political and governance aspects of the G20 agenda. He holds a double degree in Economics and Arts (Political Science/International Relations) from the University of Queensland and was awarded first class honours for his thesis on ‘the institutional evolution of the G20 post the global financial crisis.’ Hugh has previously worked as a researcher for an ARC-funded comparative banking project (looking at the pre- and post-crisis experience of banks in Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom), as a project spokesperson for the United Nations Department of Public Information and as a tutor of globalisation and international political economy. In 2008 he was awarded a scholarship to study economics at Bocconi University in Milan, and in 2014 an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship from the European Commission to commence a Masters of Public Policy in a joint program run by the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Hague, and the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals.

Articles by Hugh Jorgensen (9)

Most participants in this Interpreter debate on the G20 agree the forum needs more committed political leadership and a doubling of existing efforts.
But what if strategically minded political leaders aren’t convinced the G20’s agenda enhances their domestic standing?

I am from Brisbane, and somewhat ironically, my original ticket out of this city was the G20 analysis I conducted while studying and working at the University of Queensland. In a serendipitous turn of events, Australia and my hometown city were announced as 2014 G20 hosts during that research, which paved the way for my shift to Sydney in 2013 to join the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute.

Of the 60-plus official meetings that have taken place under Australia's 2014 G20 presidency, a grand total of one has managed to produce a final communiqué or meeting report that mentions the word 'inequality'.

There are many countries which do not much like the central role of the US dollar. But while they generally (and grudgingly) agree that there is not much to be done about it for now, a punishment recently meted out by US financial regulators against BNP Paribas (BNPP) has incensed European leaders into calling for the dollar, and its role in the application of bank fines, to be an item of discussion at the G20 Brisbane Summit.

Yesterday I gave an interview to the Sydney Morning Herald for a story published today: 'Stopping climate change talks "could hurt" G20' (p. 8 in the paper version). Here I want to offer a little more background to the three direct quotes that made it to the final story:

Earlier this month, the secretariats of the Commonwealth and la Francophonie (the French-based equivalent of the Commonwealth) met with G20 representatives in Washington, DC to consult on their respective agendas.

Treasurer Joe Hockey's speech at the Lowy Institute today picked up on, and in some areas expanded upon, many of the issues raised in Prime Minister Abbott's G20 address in Davos.
As Mike Callaghan noted of the Prime Minister's comments in Davos, the Treasurer's speech bore the imprint of its deliverer, rather than of a team of officials. If Australia's presidency of the G20 is to actually achieve anything, such personal involvement is both necessary and positive.

Banking regulation.
Wait, wait! Don’t stop reading just yet! This is important to you! At least, it is if you are the kind of person who keeps your money in a bank (mattress ‘investors’ can move on; you’re a lost cause anyway).

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